More great gifts for connectors

Ian Ybarra

(Alright, finally back in the swing of things after the holiday. Sorry for the delay, folks!)

We got over thirty comments to the Great Gifts for Connectors post! Thanks to everyone.

Here’s seven of the best, for which the lucky commenters will get a GiftTrap game (for those of you who read this before I can figure out your email address, write to me at ianATnevereataloneDOTcom to arrange shipping).

1. Selina recommends gifting a personal chef service in the home, such as http://gourmetexpresspcs.com. Perfect for those Ferrazzi-style dinner parties.

2. For connectors who know value that feeling of receiving and sending real paper notes in the mail but don’t have time to run to the post office, get them started with SendOutCards.com. Compose the note or card online and they do the mail run for you. Suggested by Gregg MacMillan. 

3. For folks who say people are the name of the game, there’s another game to complement GiftTrap. It’s called Gameface, and it challenges you to put names to the faces of famous people from history, many of whom could make a run for our Connectors Hall of Fame. Check it out at playgameface.com. Suggested by Robert Hurlbert.

4. Although not everyone wants to go to a garden show, Blair’s suggestion gives us the idea to pay someone’s way to a conference they’d love. If you’re not speaking or going on your company’s dime, conference fees do start looking steep a month before the show. Paying their way can give them excitement and relief, and perhaps yourself a discount for early registration. (For the greatest ROI, school them on being a conference commando, too!)

5. Even if you have a digital camera or ultra-portable computer, it always takes a few too many moments of fumbling to get just the right photo in front of the right person. Thanks to Adele Savarese for suggesting the TAO 1-Inch Digital Picture Keychain, which can help you queue up 56 photos instantly in any run-in situation.

6. One challenge connectors face from knowing so many people is making sure to spend quality time with everyone. Rachel Whalley’s idea of buying an experience you can enjoy together (e.g. cooking classes, skydiving lessons, a weekend getaway) will make it hassle-free for them to have a great time with you. Share your passions! sharing their passions to strengthen relationships.

7. And last, but not least, the precursor to executing Rajesh Setty’s recommendations of no-cost gifts for connectors – devoting quality time to understand exactly what they’re looking for (suggested by Jeff Hayes). As I notice some of my contacts making slightly-off recommendations of books I should read or people I should meet, I know I would definitely value their attention and interest in getting it right just as much as any of the other great gifts listed above.

Thanks again to everyone for reading. If you want to sponsor another friendly game of idea-roundup like our friends at GiftTrap were so kind to do, just let me know.

And if you haven’t played GiftTrap yet, it’s worth a look. I played it with my family over the holidays and it was lots of fun…except for my mom accusing my uncle Rex of lying about the gifts he wanted because she knows him better than that…oh, wait, that was pretty hilarious, too!